Benjamin Sumner Welles (October 14, 1892September 24, 1961) was an American government official and diplomat. He was a major foreign policy adviser to President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

and served as Under Secretary of State from 1936 to 1943, during Roosevelt's presidency. Born in New York City to a wealthy, well-connected political family, Welles graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1914. He entered the

Foreign Service Foreign Service may refer to: * Diplomatic service, the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country * United States Foreign Service, the diplomatic service of the United States government **Foreign Service ...

at the advice of Franklin Roosevelt, who was a family friend. Welles was excited by

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

's ideas about how American principles could reorder the international system based on liberal democracy, free-trade capitalism, international law, a league of nations, and an end to colonialism. Welles specialized in Latin American diplomatic affairs and served several posts in Washington and in the field. President

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...

distrusted Welles because of his divorce, and dismissed him from the foreign service. Welles left public service for some years, and wrote a book on the

history of the Dominican Republic The recorded history of the Dominican Republic began in 1492 when Christopher Columbus, working for the Crown of Castile, arrived at a large island in the western Atlantic Ocean, later known as the Caribbean. The native Taíno people, an Arawaka ...

. When Roosevelt was elected president in 1932, he put Welles in charge of Latin American affairs as Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs. Welles became heavily involved in negotiations that removed Cuban president

Gerardo Machado Gerardo Machado y Morales (28 September 1869 – 29 March 1939) was a general of the Cuban War of Independence and President of Cuba from 1925 to 1933. Machado was elected president in 1924 as the leader of the Liberal Party, a moderate reform ...

from power and replaced him with rival Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada. He was later promoted to Under Secretary of State, in which role he continued to be active in Latin American issues, but also expanded into European affairs as World War II began in Europe in 1939. In 1940, he issued the Welles Declaration which condemned Soviet occupation of the Baltic states and proved to be a minor point of contention among the Soviets and their

Western allies Western Allies was a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It primarily refers to the leading Anglo-American Allied powers, namely the United States and the United Kingdom, although the term has also be ...

once the U.S. entered the war in 1941. Welles used American power and his senior position to intrude into the domestic affairs of other countries, especially choosing leaders who supported American policies. After the

fall of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Net ...

, he downgraded French affairs because they no longer were a major power. Roosevelt relied on Welles much more than on the official Secretary of State,

Cordell Hull Cordell Hull (October 2, 1871July 23, 1955) was an American politician from Tennessee and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years (1933–1944) in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevel ...

, who became the enemy of Welles. Welles was forced out of government service by Secretary Hull after his enemies began to spread word of a 1943 incident in which he had propositioned two male railroad porters for sex. Returning to private life, he continued to write books on foreign relations and became an advisor to media organizations. He was a target of the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...

during the post-war "

red scare A Red Scare is a form of moral panic provoked by fear of the rise of left-wing ideologies in a society, especially communism and socialism. Historically, red scares have led to mass political persecution, scapegoating, and the ousting of thos ...

", though he was never formally sanctioned. He died in New Jersey in 1961, survived by his third wife and two children from his first marriage.

Early life

Benjamin Sumner Welles was born in New York City, the son of Benjamin Sumner Welles Jr. (1857–1935) and Frances Wyeth Swan (1863–1911). He preferred to be called Sumner after his famous relative

Charles Sumner Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1851 until his death in 1874. Before and during the American Civil War, he was a leading American ...

, a leading Senator from Massachusetts during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

and

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

. His family was wealthy and was connected to the era's most prominent families. He was a grandnephew of Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor, known as "''the'' Mrs. Astor". Among his ancestors were

Thomas Welles Thomas Welles (14 January 1660) is the only person in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. He was Commissioner of the United Colonies in 1649. Thomas Welles served a total of ni ...

,Donna H. Siemiatkoski, ''The Descendants of Governor Thomas Welles of Connecticut, 1590–1658, and His Wife, Alice Tomes'' (Gateway Press, 1990) a colonial Governor of Connecticut, and Increase Sumner, Governor of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

from 1797 to 1799. Although the two men were occasionally mistaken for cousins, Welles was no relation to director

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

. The Welles family was also connected to the Roosevelts. A cousin of Sumner Welles married James "Rosy" Roosevelt, Jr., half-brother of future President

(FDR). At the age of 10, Welles was entered in Miss Kearny's Day School for Boys in New York City. In September 1904, he entered

Groton School Groton School is a Private school, private, college-preparatory school, college-preparatory, day school, day and boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, United States. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcop ...

in Massachusetts, where he remained for six years. There he roomed with Hall Roosevelt, the brother of

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

. In March 1905 at the age of 12 Welles served as a page at Franklin D. Roosevelt's wedding to Eleanor. Welles attended

where he studied "economics, Iberian literature and culture", and graduated after three years in 1914.

Diplomatic career

After graduating from Harvard, Welles followed the advice of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and joined the U.S. Foreign Service. A ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' profile described him while he joined the foreign service: "Tall, slender, blond, and always correctly tailored, he concealed a natural shyness under an appearance of dignified firmness. Although intolerant of inefficiency, he brought to bear unusual tact and a self-imposed patience."''The New York Times''
Harold B. Hinton, "Welles: Our Man of the Hour in Cuba"
August 20, 1933, accessed November 8, 2010 He secured an assignment to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, where he served in the embassy as third secretary only briefly.

Latin America

Welles soon became a specialist in Latin American affairs. He served in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Argentina, in 1919 and became fluent in Spanish. In 1921, Secretary of State

Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American politician, academic, and jurist who served as the 11th chief justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

appointed him to head the Division of Latin American Affairs. In March 1922, Welles briefly resigned from the State Department. He was unsympathetic to the view held by American diplomacy that military might was meant to protect the overseas interests of U.S. business. Hughes brought him back the next year as a special commissioner to the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. His particular assignment was to oversee the withdrawal of U.S. forces and to negotiate protection for overseas investors in the Dominican Republic's debt. Welles remained in that post for three years and his work was accomplished after his departure in a 1924 treaty. In 1924, U.S. President

sent Welles to act as mediator between disputing parties in Honduras. The country had lacked a legitimate government since the election of 1923 failed to produce a majority for any candidate and the legislature had failed to exercise its power to appoint a new president. Negotiations managed by Welles from April 23 to 28 produced an interim government under General Vicente Tosta, who promised to appoint a cabinet representing all factions and to schedule a presidential election as soon as possible in which he would not be a candidate. Negotiations ended with the signing of an agreement aboard the USS ''Milwaukee'' in the port of Amapala.

Years out of government service

Coolidge, however, disapproved of Welles's 1925 marriage to Mathilde Scott Townsend, who had only recently divorced the President's friend, Senator Peter Gerry of Rhode Island. He promptly ended Welles's diplomatic career. Welles then retired to his estate at Oxon Hill, Maryland. He devoted himself to writing and his two-volume history of the Dominican Republic, ''Naboth's Vineyard: The Dominican Republic, 1844–1924'' appeared in 1928. ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' described the work as "a ponderous, lifeless, two-volume work which was technically a history of Santo Domingo, actually a careful indictment of U.S. foreign policy in the Hemisphere".

James Reston James "Scotty" Barrett Reston (November 3, 1909 – December 6, 1995) was an American journalist whose career spanned the mid-1930s to the early 1990s. He was associated for many years with ''The New York Times.'' Early life and educati ...

summarized its thesis: "we should keep in our own back yard and stop claiming rights for ourselves that we denied to other sovereign States".''The New York Times''
James B. Reston, "Acting Secretary"
August 3, 1941, accessed November 8, 2010 He served as an unofficial adviser to Dominican President Horacio Vásquez. During the presidential election of 1932, Welles provided foreign policy expertise to the Roosevelt campaign. He was a major contributor to the campaign as well.

Cuba

In April 1933, FDR appointed Welles Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs, but when a revolution in Cuba against President

left its government divided and uncertain, he became instead the President's special envoy to Cuba. He arrived in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Platt Amendment of 1901, required. His instructions were to mediate "in any form most suitable" an end to the Cuban situation. Welles promised Machado a new commercial treaty to relieve economic distress if Machado reached a political settlement with his opponents, Colonel Dr. Cosme de la Torriente, from the Nationalist Union; Joaquín Martínez Sáenz, for ABC; Nicasio Silveira, for the Revolutionary Radical Cellular Organization; and Dr. Manuel Dorta-Duque, representing the delegation of the University of Havana. Machado believed the U.S. would help him survive politically. Welles promised the opponents of Machado's government a change of government and participation in the subsequent administration, if they joined the mediation process and supported an orderly transfer of power. One crucial step was persuading Machado to issue an amnesty for political prisoners so that the opposition leaders could appear in public. Machado soon lost faith in Welles and denounced U.S. interference as a colonialist adventure. Welles' mediation process conferred political legitimacy on sectors of the opposition that participated and allowed the U.S. to assess their viability as long-term political allies. Unable to influence Machado, Welles met with Rafael Guas Inclan, president of the Chamber of Representatives, at the home of newspaper publisher Alfredo Hornedo, and requested that he initiate impeachment proceedings against the president. When Guas harshly rebuffed him, Welles then negotiated an end to his presidency, with support from General Alberto Herrera, Colonels Julio Sanguily, Rafael del Castillo, and Erasmo Delgado after threatening U.S. intervention under the Platt Amendment and the restructuring of the Cuban army high command. In 1937, FDR promoted Welles to Under Secretary, and the Senate promptly confirmed the appointment. Indicative of ongoing rivalries within the State Department, Robert Walton Moore, an ally of Secretary of State Hull was appointed the department's Counselor at the same time, a position equal in rank to that of Under Secretary. Sumner Welles passport

World War II

In the week following

Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...

, in November 1938, the British government offered to give the major part of its quota of 65,000 British citizens eligible for emigration to the United States to Jews fleeing Hitler. Under-Secretary Welles opposed this idea, as he later recounted:

I reminded the Ambassador that the President stated there was no intention on the part of his government to increase the quota for German nationals. I added that it was my strong impression that the responsible leaders among
American Jews American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% id ...
would be the first to urge that no change in the present quota for
German Jews The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...
be made ... The influential Sam Rosenman, one of the "responsible" Jewish leaders sent Roosevelt a memorandum telling him that an "increase of quotas is wholly inadvisable. It will merely produce a 'Jewish problem' in the countries increasing the quota."

Welles headed the American delegation to the 21-nation Pan American conference that met in Panama in September 1939. He said the conference had been planned in earlier hemispheric meetings in

and

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

and he emphasized the need for consultation on economic issues to "cushion the shock of the dislocation of inter-American commerce arising from the war" in Europe. In February and March 1940 Welles visited Vatican City, Italy, Germany, and France; (he visited President

Albert Lebrun Albert François Lebrun (; 29 August 1871 – 6 March 1950) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1932 to 1940. He was the last president of the Third Republic. He was a member of the centre-right Democratic Republica ...

on March 7) and England to receive and discuss German peacemaking proposals. Hitler feared that the purpose of his visits was to drive a wedge between Germany and Italy.

Soviet occupation of the Baltics

On July 23, 1940, following the principles of the

Stimson Doctrine The Stimson Doctrine is the policy of nonrecognition of states created as a result of a war of aggression. The policy was implemented by the United States government, enunciated in a note of January 7, 1932, to the Empire of Japan and the Republ ...

, Welles issued a statement that became known as the Welles Declaration. In the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...

of August 23, 1939, Germany agreed to allow the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

to occupy and annex the three

Baltic states The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Welles condemned those actions and refused to recognize the legitimacy of Soviet rule in those countries. More than 50 countries later followed the U.S. in this position. The declaration was a source of contention during the subsequent alliance between the Americans, the British, and the Soviets, but Welles persistently defended the declaration. In a discussion with the media, he asserted that the Soviets had maneuvered to give "an odor of legality to acts of aggression for purposes of the record." In a 1942 memorandum describing his conversations with British Ambassador

Lord Halifax Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as the Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and the Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a British Conservative politician of the 1930s. He h ...

, Welles stated that he would have preferred to characterize the plebiscites supporting the annexations as "faked." In April 1942, he wrote that the annexation was "not only indefensible from every moral standpoint, but likewise extraordinarily stupid." He believed any concession on the Baltic issue would set a precedent that would lead to additional border struggles in eastern Poland and elsewhere.

Rivalries

A ''New York Times'' profile described Welles in 1941: "Tall and erect, never without his cane, ... he has enough dignity to be

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

and ... enough influence in this critical era to make his ideas, principles, and dreams count." He appeared on the cover of ''

'' on August 11, 1941, and in that issue ''Time'' assessed Welles's role within Hull's Department of State:''Time''
Foreign Relations: Diplomat's Diplomat", August 11, 1941
accessed November 10, 2010

Sumner Welles is one of the very few career men ever to become Under Secretary of State, and as matters now stand may eventually become Secretary ... Grave, saintly Mr. Hull, never an expert at paper-shuffling, has long left the actual administration of the Department to his chief aide, Sumner Welles. And Cordell Hull may choose not to retire. But even if Welles never becomes Secretary, he will still hold his present power: through Presidential choice, his own ability, background and natural stamina, he is the chief administrative officer of U.S. foreign policy.

Roosevelt was always close to Welles and made him the central figure in the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

, much to the chagrin of secretary

, who could not be removed because he had a powerful political base. The clash became more public in mid-1943, when ''Time'' reported "a flare-up of long-smoldering hates and jealousies in the State Department".''Time''
"Foreign Relations: A House Divided"
August 23, 1943. After Welles was forced out of office, journalists noted that two men who shared "aims and goals" were at odds because of a "clash of temperament and ambitions".

Resignation

Welles was a closeted bisexual. In September 1940, Welles accompanied Roosevelt to the funeral of former

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

William B. Bankhead in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

. While returning to Washington by train, Welles – who was drunk and under the influence of barbiturates – solicited sex from two male African-American Pullman car porters. Cordell Hull dispatched his confidant, former Ambassador William Bullitt, to provide details of the incident to Republican Senator Owen Brewster of

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. Brewster, in turn, gave the information to journalist Arthur Krock, a Roosevelt critic; and to Senators

Styles Bridges Henry Styles Bridges (September 9, 1898November 26, 1961) was an American teacher, editor, and Republican Party politician from Concord, New Hampshire. He served one term as the 63rd governor of New Hampshire before a twenty-four-year career ...

and Burton K. Wheeler. When

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

Director

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American attorney and law enforcement administrator who served as the fifth and final director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) and the first director of the Federal Bureau o ...

would not release the file on Welles, Brewster threatened to initiate a senatorial investigation into the incident. (In 1995, Deke DeLoach told

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

Brian Lamb Brian Patrick Lamb (; born October 9, 1941) is an American journalist. He is the founder, executive chairman, and the now-retired CEO of C-SPAN, an American cable network that provides coverage of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senat ...

on ''

Booknotes ''Booknotes'' is an American television series on the C-SPAN network hosted by Brian Lamb, which originally aired from 1989 to 2004. The format of the show is a one-hour, one-on-one interview with a non-fiction author. The series was broadcast ...

'' that file cabinets behind

's secretary Helen Gandy contained two-and-a-half drawers of files, including information about "an undersecretary of state who had committed a homosexual act.") Roosevelt was embittered by the attack on his friend, believing they were ruining a good man, but he was obliged to accept Welles's resignation in 1943. Roosevelt particularly blamed Bullitt; his son

Elliott Roosevelt Elliott Roosevelt may refer to: * Elliott Roosevelt (socialite) (1860–1894), American socialite, father-in-law of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, father of Eleanor Roosevelt, younger brother of President Theodore Roosevelt, and grandfather of G ...

wrote that President Roosevelt believed that Bullitt had bribed the porters to entrap Welles. In August 1943, reports that Welles had resigned as Under-Secretary of State circulated for more than a week. The press reported it as fact on August 24, despite the lack of an official announcement. Writing in ''The New York Times'', Arthur Krock said that opinion in Washington saw Welles's departure as an attempt to end factionalism in the State Department: "The long-existing struggle disorganized the department, bred Hull and Welles factions among its officials, confused those having business with the department and finally produced pressure on the President to eliminate the causes." Despite the "personal fondness" of the President and his wife for Welles, he continued, the President sided with Hull because supporting a subordinate would promote revolts in other government agencies, Hull was politically connected and popular with Congress, and the Senate, he was told, would not support Welles for Secretary of State or any other office. Krock added a cryptic explanation: "Other incidents arising made the disagreements between the two men even more personal. It was those which aroused the Senate to opposition to Mr. Welles that was reported to the President."''The New York Times''
Arthur Krock, "Welles Has Quit, Washington Hears"
August 25, 1943, accessed November 9, 2010 While Welles vacationed in

Bar Harbor, Maine Bar Harbor () is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. The town is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory, and MDI Biological Laborat ...

,''Time''
"Cabinet: Help Wanted (Male)", September 27, 1943
accessed November 9, 2010 "where he held to diplomatically correct silence",''Time''

accessed November 9, 2010 speculation continued for another month without official word from the White House or the State Department. Observers continued to focus on the Hull–Welles relationship and believed that Hull forced the President to choose between them to end "departmental cleavage". Others read the situation politically and blamed FDR's "appeasement of

Southern Democrats Southern Democrats are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States. Before the American Civil War, Southern Democrats mostly believed in Jacksonian democracy. In the 19th century, they defended slavery in the ...

". Without confirming his resignation or speaking on the record, Welles indicated he would accept any new assignment the President proposed.''The New York Times'
Lewis Wood, "Capital Convinced Welles Resigned", August 26, 1943
accessed November 9, 2010 Finally, on September 26, 1943, the President announced the resignation of Welles and the appointment of Edward R. Stettinius as the new Under-Secretary of State. He accepted Welles's resignation with regret and explained that Welles was prompted to leave government service because of "his wife's poor health". Welles's letter of resignation was not made public as was customary and one report concluded, "The facts of this situation remained obscure tonight."''The New York Times''
"Stettinius Named for Welles Post", September 26, 1943
accessed November 9, 2010 ''Time'' summarized the reaction of the press: "Its endorsement of Sumner Welles was surprisingly widespread, its condemnation of Franklin Roosevelt and Cordell Hull surprisingly severe." It also described the resignation's impact: "In dropping Sumner Welles

ull Ull or ULL may refer to: Organisations * SK Ull, a Norwegian Nordic skiing club * Non-Party List (), a short-lived political party in Liechtenstein * Ullensaker/Kisa IL, a Norwegian sports club * University of La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain * Un ...

had dropped the chief architect of the US's Good Neighbor Policy in South America, an opponent of those who would do business with Fascists on the basis of expediency, a known and respected advocate of U.S. cooperation in international affairs. The U.S. still awaits a clarification of its foreign policy and the forced resignation of Sumner Welles made an already murky issue even more obscure."

Later years

Welles made his first public appearance following his resignation in October 1943. Speaking to the

Foreign Policy Association The Foreign Policy Association (FPA, formerly known as the League of Free Nations Association) is an American non-profit foreign policy organization. According to the FPA, the organization aims to spread global awareness and understanding of US f ...

, he sketched his views of the postwar world, including American participation in a world organization with military capability. He also proposed the creation of regional organizations. He also called on the President to express his opinions and help shape public opinion, praising him at length as "rightly regarded throughout the world as the paladin of the forces of liberal democracy" without once mentioning Hull. Continuing his career-long focus on Latin America, he said that "if we are to achieve our own security every nation of the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the 180th meridian.- The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, ...

must also obtain the same ample measure of assurance as ourselves in the world of the future." He also foresaw the end to

colonialism Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

as a guiding principle of the new world order:

Can the peaceful, the stable, and the free world for which we hope be created if it is envisioned from the outset as half slave and half free?—if hundreds of millions of human beings are told that they are destined to remain indefinitely under alien subjection? New and powerful nationalistic forces are breaking into life throughout the earth, and in particular in the vast regions of Africa, of the Near East, and of the Far East. Must not these forces, unless they are to be permitted to start new and devastating inundations, be canalized through the channels of liberty into the great stream of constructive and cooperative human endeavor?

In 1944, Welles lent his name to a fundraising campaign by the United Jewish Appeal to bring Jewish refugees from the Balkans to

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. The same year, he wrote ''The Time for Decision''. His proposals for the war's end included modifications in Germany's borders to transfer

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

to Poland and to extend Germany's eastern border to include German-speaking populations farther east. Then, he suggested dividing Germany into three states, all of which would be included in a new European

customs union A customs union is generally defined as a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.GATTArticle 24 s. 8 (a) Customs unions are established through trade pacts where the participant countries set u ...

. A politically divided Germany would be integrated to an economically cohesive Europe. He also "favoured the transfer of populations to bring ethnic distributions into conformity with international boundaries." With the public engaged in the debate over America's postwar role, ''The Time for Decision'' sold half a million copies. Welles became a prominent commentator and author on foreign affairs. In 1945, he joined the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...

to guide the organization of the "Sumner Welles Peace Forum," a series of four radio broadcasts providing expert commentary on the

San Francisco Conference The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), commonly known as the San Francisco Conference, was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, Cal ...

, which wrote the founding document of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. He undertook a project to edit a series of volumes on foreign relations for

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

. In 1948, Welles wrote ''We Need Not Fail'', a short book that first presented a history and evaluated the competing claims to

. He argued that American policy should insist on the fulfillment of the 1947 promise of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

to establish two independent states within an economic union and policed by a United Nations force. He criticized American officials whose obsession with the Soviets required submission to Arab and oil interests. Enforcing the decision of the United Nations was his overarching concern because it was an opportunity to establish the organization's role on the international stage that no other interest could trump. Later that year, the

American Jewish Congress The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) is an association of American Jews organized to defend Jewish interests in the US and internationally through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts. History The idea for a ...

presented Welles with a citation that praised his "courageous championing of the cause of Israel among the nations of the world." On December 7, 1948, Welles appeared before

HCUA The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...

as part of its investigation into allegations between

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer and intelligence agent. After early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), he defected from the Soviet u ...

and

Alger Hiss Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official who was accused of espionage in 1948 for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. The statute of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjur ...

(part of the Hiss Case). Later that month (and after the death of his friend Laurence Duggan), he suffered a serious heart attack. In April 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy repeatedly charged that the

Institute of Pacific Relations The Institute of Pacific Relations (IPR) was an international NGO established in 1925 to provide a forum for discussion of problems and relations between nations of the Pacific Rim. The International Secretariat, the center of most IPR activity ...

(IPR), an organization that fostered the study of the Far East and the Pacific, was a communist front. Welles was a member of the American branch of the IPR. He remained always in the public eye. For example, his departure on the ''

Île de France Ile or ILE may refer to: Ile * Ile, a Puerto Rican singer * Ile District (disambiguation), multiple places * Ilé-Ifẹ̀, an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria * Interlingue (ISO 639:ile), a planned language * Isoleucine, an amino aci ...

'' for Europe was noted even as he declined to comment on charges made by McCarthy about communists in the State Department. He sold his estate outside Washington in 1952, when Oxon Hill Manor became the home of a "huge collection of Americana." In 1956, ''

Confidential Confidentiality involves a set of rules or a promise sometimes executed through confidentiality agreements that limits the access to or places restrictions on the distribution of certain types of information. Legal confidentiality By law, law ...

'', a scandal magazine, published a report of the 1940 Pullman incident and linked it to his resignation from the State Department, along with additional instances of inappropriate sexual behavior or drunkenness. Welles had explained the 1940 incident to his family as nothing more than drunken conversation with the train staff. His son Benjamin Welles wrote of the incident in his father's biography as drunken advances to several porters at about 4 a.m. that were rejected and then reported to government and railway officials.

Personal life

On April 14, 1915, Sumner Welles married Esther "Hope" Slater of Boston, the sister of a Harvard roommate, in Webster, Massachusetts. She came from a similarly prominent family that owned a textile empire based in Massachusetts. She was descended from industrialist

Samuel Slater Samuel Slater (June 9, 1768 – April 21, 1835) was an early English-American industrialist known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution", a phrase coined by Andrew Jackson, and the "Father of the American Factory System". In the ...

and granddaughter of the Boston painter

William Morris Hunt William Morris Hunt (March 31, 1824September 8, 1879) was an American painter. Born into the political List of Hunt family members of Vermont, Hunt family of Vermont, he trained in Paris with the realist Jean-François Millet and studied under hi ...

. Welles and his wife had two sons: Benjamin Welles (1916–2002), a

foreign correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', later his father's biographer, and Arnold Welles (1918–2002) In 1923, Slater obtained a divorce from Welles in Paris "on grounds of abandonment and refusal to live with his wife".''The New York Times''
No title, June 29, 1925
accessed November 8, 2010 Welles occasionally gained public notice for his art dealings. In 1925, for example, he sold a collection of Japanese screens that had been on exhibit at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

for several years. On June 27, 1925, Welles married Mathilde Scott Townsend (1885–1949), "a noted international beauty" whose portrait had been painted by

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era, Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil ...

, in upstate New York. Until World War II, the Welleses lived on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C., in the landmark Townsend Mansion, which later became the home of the

Cosmos Club The Cosmos Club is a 501(c)(7) private social club in Washington, D.C., that was founded by John Wesley Powell in 1878 as a gentlemen's club for those interested in science. Among its stated goals is, "The advancement of its members in science, ...

. Mathilde died of

peritonitis Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and covering of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One pa ...

in 1949 while vacationing in Switzerland with Welles.''The New York Times''
"Mrs. Welles Dies; Statesman's Wife"
August 9, 1949, accessed November 8, 2010 Welles spent the bulk of his time a few miles outside of Washington in the Maryland countryside at a 49-room "country cottage" known as Oxon Hill Manor designed for him by Jules Henri de Sibour and built on a 245-acre property in 1929.Nathania A. Branch Miles, Jane Taylor Thomas
''Oxon Hill''
Images of America Series (Charleston, CA:

Arcadia Publishing Arcadia Publishing is an American Publishing, publisher of neighborhood, local history, local, and regional history of the United States in pictorial form.(analysis of the successful ''Images of America'' series). Arcadia Publishing also runs th ...

, 2006), 12 He entertained foreign dignitaries and diplomats there and hosted informal meetings of senior officials. FDR used the site as an occasional escape from the city as well. On January 8, 1952, Welles married Harriette Appleton Post, a childhood friend (and a granddaughter of architect

George B. Post George Browne Post (December15, 1837November28, 1913) was an American architect trained in the Beaux-Arts tradition. Active from 1869 almost until his death, he was recognized as a master of several contemporary American architectural genres, an ...

, designer of the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

) who had previously married and divorced twice, and had resumed the use of her maiden name, in New York City at the bride's home on

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

. He died on September 24, 1961, at age 68 in Bernardsville, New Jersey. He is buried in

Rock Creek Cemetery Rock Creek Cemetery is an cemetery with a natural and rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE, in the Petworth (Washington, D.C.), Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., across ...

in Washington, D.C.

Legacy

The biography written by his son Benjamin Welles concludes:

Sumner Welles made four major contributions to the Roosevelt era. He conceived and carried out the Good Neighbor policy, arguably the all-time, high-water mark in U.S.–Latin American relations. With Roosevelt, Churchill and Alexander Cadogan, he wrote the
Atlantic Charter The Atlantic Charter was a statement issued on 14 August 1941 that set out American and British goals for the world after the end of World War II, months before the US officially entered the war. The joint statement, later dubbed the Atlantic C ...
, the cornerstone of the United Nations. In mid–World War II, at FDR's direction, he drafted the original UN Charter. And during and after the war, he threw his support behind a national homeland for the Jews: Israel. The Good Neighbor policy and the Atlantic Charter are largely memories. The United Nations and Israel endure.

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

, who made the phrase " No comment" famous, cited Welles as his source for the cryptic response. Welles's papers are held by the

National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in

Hyde Park, New York Hyde Park is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States, bordering the Hudson River north of Poughkeepsie. Within the town are the hamlets of Hyde Park, East Park, Staatsburg, and Haviland. Hyde Park is known as the hometown of Fra ...

. The street adjacent to the current Embassy of the United States in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, Latvia, was named after Sumner Welles (as ''Samnera Velsa iela'') in 2012.

Works

* ''The Time for Decision'' (Harper & Brothers, 1944) * ''An Intelligent American's Guide to the Peace'' (Dryden, 1945), * ''Where Are We Heading'' (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1946) * ''We Need Not Fail'' (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1948) * ''Seven Major Decisions That Shaped History'' (New York: Harper 1951), * ''Naboth's Vineyard: The Dominican Republic, 1844–1924'' (reprint: Arno Press, 1972),

References

External links

and ttp://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/psf/box6/folo73.html Part 2 {{DEFAULTSORT:Welles, Sumner 1892 births 1961 deaths 20th-century American LGBTQ people Ambassadors of the United States to Cuba American bisexual men American bisexual politicians American Christian Zionists Articles containing video clips Bisexual male politicians Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery Harvard College alumni LGBTQ ambassadors of the United States LGBTQ people from New York (state) LGBTQ people from Washington, D.C. People from Bernardsville, New Jersey Politicians from New York City United States Foreign Service personnel United States under secretaries of state

Early life

Diplomatic career

Latin America

Years out of government service

Cuba

World War II

Soviet occupation of the Baltics

Rivalries

Resignation

Later years

Personal life

Legacy

Works

References

Further reading

Cuba

Primary sources

External links